A UK court has granted a woman the right to freeze her dead husband's sperm for up to 55 years in case she wants to have his child.

Beth Warren and her husband Warren Brewer froze his sperm before he began radiotherapy in 2005 for a brain tumour.

The 32-year-old died in February 2012 and Mrs Warren - who took her late husband's first name as her surname - thought his sperm would be safe, if and when she chose to use them to conceive.

However, the UK Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (HFEA) ruled that paperwork completed by the couple was not sufficient for the sperm to be stored long term as Mr Brewer could not renew his consent after his death.

Due to be destroyed

As a result, the frozen sperm were due to be destroyed in April next year.

In her declaration, Mrs Justice Hogg said she had sympathy for Mrs Warren who had fought for two years to get extensions and bring her case to court.

The judge said the Human Rights Act had come to the aid of Mrs Warren - specifically Article 3 concerning inhuman or degrading treatment and Article 8, which protects the right to have a family life.

She said: "I have held that (Mrs Warren) has the right to decide to become a parent by her deceased husband, for which he had made provision and which would accord with his wishes and intentions."

The HFEA explained its decision to seek leave to appeal, saying that it had hoped the court would find a way for Ms Warren to store the sperm for longer "without having wider implications for the existing consent regime".